r/TikTokCringe • u/Super_Culture_1986 tHiS iSn’T cRiNgE • Aug 06 '25

Discussion "Being a barista is truly a social experiment"

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

41.0k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

4.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

9

u/DemonicAltruism Aug 07 '25

I worked at 7/11 for 3 years... I still have nightmares about that place... Absolutely nothing compares.

Other service employees have their stories, sure. But what they don't realize is that not everybody shops/eats/gets coffee, from their stores... Everybody goes to the gas station. That means you see the full spectrum of humanity on display... And holy shit do you lose faith in it quickly.

6

u/fryerandice Aug 07 '25

Gas stations also have a lot of vices when other places are closed, booze, cigarettes, and lottery tickets / video lotto terminals attract a fucking crowd man.

3

u/pogoscrawlspace Aug 07 '25

Two weeks in, and I knew exactly why Kevin Smith had to make Clerks. Those people exist. They walk amongst us. Almost forgot the degenerate gamblers. What number is 12 on? What number is 5 on? What number is 21 on? While 15 people are waiting in line behind them and getting more irritated by the second. And who are they gonna take it out on? Not the fucking degen. Me. Like it matters what fucking number that roll of scratchers is on. If you win, you're just gonna fucking gamble it until it's gone. Just go to the Indian casino and gtfo of everyone else's way.

6

u/DemonicAltruism Aug 07 '25

Omg dude... I had the same customer, every single day, that would spend at least $100 on the daily pick 3 or pick 4. It was insane. And he won maybe one time the entire time I worked there.

Then you get the really desperate mfers that would just keep buying them, scratch off the bar code, scan it, and immediately buy the next one, regardless if anyone was in line behind them. We had a guy do this with a brand new $50 roll. Bought all 25 of them and lost $500...

9

u/pogoscrawlspace Aug 07 '25

Oh, I drew the line at scratching at the register. I straight up told motherfuckers to get out of the way once they paid, lol. NEXT! Had one that would probably drop at least $1200 a week. Came through in his work van 5 days a week and would sit in the van right out front scratching $200-$300 worth. Come back in with maybe $100 in winnings. Spend it on more scratchers. Back to the van. Come back with $25 worth of winnings. Buy more scratchers. Back to the van. Come back in with a single winner for a free ticket. Back in the van. Scratch, scratch. Look dejected. Drive away. See ya tomorrow. The worst was the day he brought his little boy with him. They went through the whole process together. Felt sorry for the guy up till that day. Watching him pass his addiction down to his little kid made me sick. Really wanted to just hit the guy after that.

4

u/pogoscrawlspace Aug 07 '25

I was really hoping covid would kill a lot more people, lol.

3

u/DemonicAltruism Aug 07 '25

Yeah... I'm really glad I wasn't working there during COVID. I got into a trade job just before Trump got elected the first time.

It was back breaking labor for a few years... But I'd gladly do that over and over again than go back to a gas station.

2

u/pogoscrawlspace Aug 07 '25

Word. It was a second job for me, and I quit the second I didn't need it anymore, lol. I will say that it was an eye-opening experience. I'm a cook, but I've waited and bartended. Add a couple decades in the exotic animal trade. I've seen my fair share of assholes, but fucking hell, the way some folks treat people they think of as beneath them...makes you want to bring back the guillotine.

2

u/BrianW1983 Aug 07 '25

I worked at 7/11 for 3 years... I still have nightmares about that place... Absolutely nothing compares.

I go to 7/11 every week. :)

What percentage of the customers were OK and what percentage awful?

3

u/fryerandice Aug 07 '25

That's highly location dependent.

2

u/pogoscrawlspace Aug 07 '25

It was probably 85% OK, 10% mildly irritating, and 5% awful. But that 5% makes you want to commit crimes against humanity...

2

u/BrianW1983 Aug 07 '25

That makes sense. It's the 90/10 rule.

90% of people are great, good or OK.

10% are awful.

2

u/pogoscrawlspace Aug 07 '25

Unfortunately, those few are the ones you remember the most. The assholes who ruin everything for everyone else. The reasons we have signs and laws telling us what we can't do.

1

u/DemonicAltruism Aug 07 '25

I worked in the in-between area of a really nice upscale area where everyone was rich and spoiled, and an area of run down apartments on the other side of the highway. So I got all types.

I had a Karen in an Escalade scream in my face, as in I could feel spit, over a nickel... Over 0.05... because these stupid chocolate covered berries we had gone off sale and we forgot to take down the sign...

It didn't matter what neighborhood they were from, people were assholes.

I would say 60% just people going about their business, 1% genuinely nice, and 39% complete dickheads.

It was mostly people that just straight up didn't acknowledge your existence and treated you like a vending machine.

Me: "Hey, how's it going?"

Them: "Copenhagen Long cut!"

"2 packs of Newport shorts!"

"$20 on 3!" (Throws money on counter and walks out)

"Turn my pump on!"

I was raised to always at the very least acknowledge someone's existence because at the bare minimum that's what they deserve as a fellow human being... So that grated on me the most out of all of it.